A Guest For Christmas
by Iglika
Summary: Zee&Ro. Chapter Five is finally here and the story is finally finished! Please read and review!
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: I do not own 'The Zeta Project'. I do not own any of its characters. It's just a fanfiic.

A/N As English isn't my native language, I want to thank Aldebaran8423 for her editing help on this chapter.

This story is my Christmas present for all of you - my Zee/Ro Christmas story for this year. It turned out to be a longer story than I expected, so now I posted Chapter One. I'll post Chapter Two as soon as it's possible.

You can find more about my theory for Zee's material covering in Chapter 3 of book 1 "The Nettle's Shirt" of my Zee/Ro trilogy "You Need Me".

And for those of you who hadn't read my other Zee/Ro Christmas stories, you can find them here, at fanfiction, on my account. They are: "Zee's Heart" 2004; "More Than I Ever Wished For" 2005, "The Christmas Gift" 2006 and "Taste of Freedom" for Christmas 2007. I'll be happy if you will read and review them!

**Merry Christmas Eve and Merry Christmas to all of you!**

A Guest for Christmas

Chapter 1

by Iglika

**Ro's point of view**

I hated to be wrong about people.

I hated to have vain hopes.

I hated to be a captive of my emotions.

A real Christmas with a real family? Excellent idea. But they were not my family.

I was already sorry that I had agreed to be a 'special' guest for Christmas with Daisy's family. There was nothing special about me. A twenty one year old, thin tomboy, still with my blonde hair cut short, always wearing jeans. Oh, yes, my past. An ex-fugitive and a 24/7 orphan, if I didn't count my long lost, then found brother Casey.

Well, Daisy was a friend, but not as close as she thought she was. It wasn't because of her. She seemed a nice enough girl, with long chestnut hair and hazel eyes. She always tried to let me know how special I was to her, she even called me 'sis' from time to time. I never answered with the same. But it really wasn't because of her. It was because of me. I had no close friend among the girls at college and I didn't need to have one. I had had enough bad experiences with betrayals at the orphan's homes and in the foster families. Then why had I agreed to come here? I didn't need to be anyone's special guest. I didn't need the perfect decorated house, I didn't need the lights on its façade, or the stockings hung by the fireplace; I didn't need the big Christmas tree; I didn't need the presents, hidden underneath it. I didn't need the smiles on Daisy's family's faces. They weren't my family.

I needed _**my**_ home, _**my**_ family and _**my**_ parents. My own parents.

That was the reason I had agreed to come here.

But that was ridiculous. Even Casey hadn't managed to find them, how could an ordinary girl like Daisy Thomas possibly solve the riddle of their disappearance?

I had no idea what kind of connections she had, but actually she never had said she could find my parents. She only hinted that if I'd spend Christmas with her and her family, I'd meet someone I had lost. Daisy didn't mention the word 'parents'. It was my imagination and my endless hope, which brought that word to my mind and transformed it into a firm belief that the surprise present Daisy wanted to give me for Christmas was a meeting with one of my parents.

But it was just a castle in the air. Obviously Daisy never even thought to try to find my parents—because it was impossible. Of course, I wouldn't think it possible that I would accept her Christmas invitation…but I had. Although I was beginning to regret it more with each passing minute. My visit here had turned into a strange game of wits. Daisy tried to put me off my guard and I tried to find out why. And this time I wasn't wrong. There was something too nervous in her smile and her voice, something odd and suspicious. Her behavior reminded me of a bad guy in a movie, obviously anxious while trying to conceal his evil plans, or cover up some crime. I had seen this even in real life a few times when my path had crossed with that of some pretty bad people.

The more I talked with her and her family, the more convinced I was that they were all trying to hide something from me. But what? What did they plan to do? To lock me up in their basement? Why? What could they possibly gain? I wasn't a wanted accomplice anymore; there was no reward for me anymore. Then what? Did they want to kill me because of all the years I had dedicated to Zee, helping him find his freedom? I knew there would always be people who couldn't accept that a robot could live like an ordinary citizen, an ordinary person. I was aware that even though Zee won the battle, the war still continued and as I had been his best friend, I would always be in danger.

But no danger was able to stop me living according to my own notions of what was right and what was wrong. I wasn't scared, even now. I was Ro Rowen, after all, the action hero, wasn't I? I was just curious to find out why Daisy and her family wanted me. Yes, I was curious. Very. And I was certain I'd discover why I was invited here.

**Zee's point of view**

Finally it had begun to snow.

Ro always wanted us to spend Christmas in a town with snow.

White Christmas. It's beautiful.

I went to the window and before I came near enough to see into the dark garden, I saw my own reflection in the window-glass. I had kept my Zee Smith appearance. It had become my identity. My Zeta metal shell was no different from most of the synthoids constructed around the same time as me. But the material covering and the hologram over it of the tall, blue eyed and black haired young man was my own creation, my personality. I had kept my outfit as well – the t-shirt, the pants and the long coat. But I had changed the color. Lately they were all black. I didn't feel comfortable anymore having clothes in bright colors. I was too serious and silent...

I had to confess it at least to myself - I was too sad to be surrounded by colors, especially those colors, which carried so many memories. So black suited me better.

It kept snowing. There was no wind outside, the snowflakes were so thick and were falling so fast that they made a dense curtain of snow and everything beyond it was just white.

My Christmas tree this year was white too – an artificial one. I was artificial, so why shouldn't my Christmas tree be artificial too. All the decorations on it were blue.

White and blue. Simple colors. Like the simple life I was living.

I ignored my inner chronometer and looked at the round clock on the wall. I had enough time to feed my animals before leaving for my second job.

Yes, I had pets. Many. Almost a mini zoo. Horses, cats, dogs, rabbits, birds. I would never stop being amazed and captivated by the greatest miracle – the miracle of life. I wasn't flesh and blood and so I could spend hours watching how my flesh and blood animal companions played, slept, ate. My pets. My friends. I loved them.

And they loved me too. Yes, they did. I was afraid they would have no feelings toward me, just like they had no feelings toward trees or furniture or the computer, but maybe because of my material covering, which helped me to feel completely human to the touch, and because of my human voice, they answered when I was talking to them and liked it when I petted them.

I always wanted to be more human. From what I had learned during the years so far, it wasn't enough simply to be free or even to be acknowledged as a person. Being alive, being human, meant a lot of things. I had attained some of them. But that which I defined as the core, the heart of being human was something I didn't have.

You need to have reasons to live. Living without a goal, living for no higher purpose is only a vegetative existence. People, real people, have different ambitions and find different aims. Some people's options were limited, though, and so were mine, in some ways. Family, kids – that was a closed door for me. So I directed my attention to the scientific researches I was able to do.

But that wasn't enough. I needed more than the constant successes I had in my two jobs, more than the polite relationships I had with my colleagues and customers; I needed more than a high salary, big house and luxury car.

I needed a best friend. I missed the best friend I used to have.

I missed a friend who could be everything to me, someone I could trust in, someone who needed me, someone who could share her heart with me…

I missed Ro.

When I was with her I had hopes. I had dreams.

I dreamed of a home, family, kids, and when I found my freedom, I finally found the strength to share those dreams with Ro, to tell her I loved her. She wasn't surprised, probably because I was not very good at hiding my feelings. She was confused, though, and that was a reaction I expected. But she was also scared. She said she needed to think it over, she said she needed time. I let her go. I loved her too much to try to keep her by my side. Ro always had been with me because it was her choice. I didn't want that to change.

She never gave me an answer. We never talked about it again. She just disappeared. And never answered my phone calls. She had gone. And she'd never come back to me again. She had become an e-mail address, which sent me greetings on every holiday. This Christmas was no different.

I drew back from the window.

It was a pure riddle to me how my golden retriever always sensed my sadness, but he really was able to do it. His warm brown eyes were trying to ask me why I was so sad—because didn't I know I had him, and he'd never leave me? Seeing that he was trying to comfort me, my blue eyed white cat approached me too, rubbing his soft furred sides against my ankles.

My pets.

My friends.

My family. They didn't mind living with me. Zee Smith. The synthoid.

Who would possibly want to live with me except them, as even Ro didn't want to?

Today was Christmas Eve. And she sent me an e-card, as always, to assure me I'm not forgotten. But I was. Since the day I wasn't a part of her life anymore, she sent me e-cards for every holiday. And nothing more. She was trying to forget me.

People say time makes you forget. But I couldn't forget. Unless I deleted the files of my life with her, but I didn't want to delete any of them. I missed Ro. I missed her so badly. And the pain of her absence was even stronger because it was clear she didn't miss me at all.

I understood. But that didn't mean I wasn't hurt.

I headed to the kitchen to prepare food for the animals. They sensed not only my sadness; they knew I'd leave soon, and I wouldn't be home for many hours, until my workday was over. I told them I'd be back soon and I'm sure they were able to understand me.

Did they sense the dark thoughts, which crossed my mind in times like this, that maybe my existence was useless and the world wouldn't lose anything if I wasn't on this Earth anymore?

No. I wouldn't do it, ever. It was just a moment of weakness, of despair. I had no will to stop existing, to…kill myself, because I loved them too much. I would never leave them. And more than just that…I loved to be alive too much to put an end to the wonder of it all.

But my second job, to which I was headed now, and for which I had to use my ability to change my holographic appearance, gave me an opportunity to disappear at least for a while. By taking other people's appearances and personalities, I actually was killing myself. Every time. And I wondered was it the same for actors? Were they as unhappy as I was, that they wanted to forget their true identities by completely immersing themselves in someone else's character?

And were they as alone as I was?

to be continued…

A/N Please, review! As this story is my Christmas present for all of you, your reviews will be your Christmas present for me!


	2. Chapter 2

Disclaimer: I do not own 'The Zeta Project'. I do not own any of its characters. It's just a fanfiic.

A/N As English isn't my native language, I want to thank Aldebaran8423 for her editing help on this chapter.

This story was my Christmas present for all of you. Thank you so much for all the reviews, each one of them is precious to me and they were really like Christmas presents to me! Thank you so much!

The Thomas family are my OCs.

You can find more about my theory for Zee's material covering in Chapter 3 of book 1 "The Nettle's Shirt" of my Zee/Ro trilogy "You Need Me".

And for those of you who hadn't read my other Zee/Ro stories, you can find them here, at fanfiction, on my account. They are: "Zee's Heart" 2004; "More Than I Ever Wished For" 2005, "The Christmas Gift" 2006 and "Taste of Freedom" for Christmas 2007. I'll be happy if you will read and review them!

A Guest For Christmas

by Iglika

Chapter 2

**Ro's point of view**

The door opened and an elderly, not too tall, white haired man with glasses, dressed in a grey suit entered the living room.

Daisy jumped to her feet in joy, while I was dumbstruck watching how she threw her arms around his neck.

With a smile the man hugged her back and then, really amused by my embarrassment, he smiled at me.

"Nice to see you, Rosalie!"

"N-n-nice to see you too, Dr. Thomas…I…I didn't know…" I stammered, feeling completely at a loss in this confusing situation. Was he the special person Daisy wanted me to meet? But I had never lost him. I was only on Christmas vacation, and I would see Dr. Thomas in a few days when I was back at college.

"It's okay, Rosalie." He smiled again. "I'm sure you are surprised that I am Daisy's grandfather."

"If you knew, you would never have come here, would you?" Daisy added with a smile, not even trying to hide how proud she was for misleading me.

Okay, she won. I was really wrong about her. Totally wrong. She wouldn't hurt me, and her family wouldn't lock me up in the basement or kill me. Dr. Thomas was the most intelligent and wisest man I had ever met… except for Dr. Selig, of course. But Daisy was right - if I had known who her grandfather really was, I would never have come to their house.

As if reading my thoughts, Dr. Thomas softly said, "Just forget I'm your professor. I'm your friend's grandfather and you are my granddaughter's friend. You are our guest for Christmas and our home is your home. That's all I want you to think about now."

I tried to nod, still feeling embarrassed, when Dr. Thomas's cell phone rang. He exchanged a few words with someone and then he looked at me again, with a new smile and this time I would swear it was an inscrutable, even conspiratorial smile.

"Please excuse me, girls. I have to go and welcome our special Christmas guest!" and with his usual fast and very brisk steps for a man his age, he left the living room.

What was going on here? Dr. Thomas knew I wasn't the special guest, he knew it wasn't him either and he was an accomplice to Daisy's plan to have me meet with that mysterious someone. My astonishment and embarrassment at being surprised by Dr. Thomas was fading, and in its place, the unsettled feeling about what Daisy could possibly be up to was back.

But before I could even say a word…

I saw through the parted drapes, under the light of the garden lamps someone stepping out of a luxury car and, accompanied by Dr. Thomas, making his way to the house, through the falling snow.

"Zee…" I whispered.

"Yes, it's him!" Daisy answered like an echo and with so much enthusiasm that I thought she would start dancing with joy at any moment.

But I didn't share her eagerness. "I don't want to see him, okay?" I said as categorically and sternly as I could, looking at her with an angry frown.

Daisy didn't pay attention to my protest though. She approached the window and looking outside, she said quickly, "There's no time to argue, he's coming! You'd better lose that scared expression!"

"I'm not scared!" I snapped, trying to cover my fear with more anger and I picked up my backpack as a sign that if she wouldn't stop this meeting from happening, I was determined to leave.

But obviously Daisy knew me better than I thought.

"You are scared, Ro!" she insisted with a calm, unshakable tone, still looking through the window. "You're afraid of meeting him because you know you won't be able to keep lying to yourself anymore." And turning toward me, Daisy said much more softly, looking me in the eyes, "You still love him!"

"It's none of your business!" I flared up. That was really too much! I slung the backpack over my shoulder, looking quickly for my jacket, and spat with an offended tone, "Besides, if I was ever going to see him again, it will be my decision!"

Daisy drew back from the window and with her hands in the pockets of her cardigan she slightly shrugged her shoulders as if to show how obvious what she wanted to say was.

"If it was only about you– you could do whatever you want to. But your decision is affecting him and making him suffer." And she turned to look through the window again.

I didn't answer immediately. And instead of leaving this place, I cast a glance outside too, looking at… Zee… He and Dr. Thomas had stopped in front of one of the birdhouses that dotted the garden.

Maybe Dr. Thomas was trying to give Daisy time to convince me to meet Zee, but no one was able to make me do something I didn't want to.

"You can't please everybody!" I said nervously, still without taking a step. I couldn't go out the front door because I would run into Zee. I couldn't use the back door either because now Daisy had moved and was standing right there, blocking my way.

Well, I could run upstairs and lock myself in one of the bedrooms-- that would have to do for now.

"No, you can't please everybody." Daisy answered calmly again. "But why do you keep hurting Zee like this when it's clear that you love him?"

"Stop saying that! And don't tell me who I love!" I couldn't believe this whole situation, and now I couldn't believe I was starting to cry. Was I that angry at Daisy, or was it something else? I avoided Daisy's look, barely stopping my stupid tears.

"It's obvious, Ro, to anyone who knows you! Just follow your heart!"

I was about to dart toward the stairs, when Daisy's two little brothers ran up to me.

"The synthoid who will play Santa Claus is here! And he can play Batman, and Robin, and Superman, and Spiderman too! He can play any character we want him to!" They were shouting and taking me by the hands, they started dragging me toward the front door.

Were they Daisy's accomplices too?!? Well, now that was more than too much! Maybe they didn't know what kind of role they actually were playing, but I was certain Daisy had instructed them when to appear and how to keep me busy.

I tried to set myself free, but it wasn't possible without hurting them or their feelings, and I didn't dare, but I turned my head over my shoulder toward Daisy, hissing though my clenched teeth, "I thought you were my friend!"

"I am! One day you'll thank me!"

I wanted to answer her, but Zee's and Dr. Thomas's voices came closer and closer to the front door and I dug my heels into the carpet, refusing to take even a step forward.

"Just let me go, guys, I'll give you all the chocolate I have in my backpack, okay?" I tried to sound as enticing as I could.

The two boys had definitely received good training because they weren't tempted at all by my offer, and seemed not to pay any attention to what I said!

"I can't allow poor Zee to see your unwelcoming expression; you better put on Dr. Edmunds' bracelet and pretend to be someone else!" Daisy said behind me.

"I don't have any bracelet!" I almost yelled in helpless anger.

"Just as I thought. So I got one for you." Daisy said, and from her pocket she pulled out a hologram-emitter bracelet, clasping it around my right wrist. Obviously the thing was already programmed because the next moment I heard a familiar electric sound and a white light surrounded me with some sort of hologram.

"Just play along and pretend to be my cousin!" Daisy whispered in my ear. "She looks much like me – long brown hair and hazel eyes."

I wanted to scream in rage, but…

Dr. Thomas and Zee entered the living room.

I hadn't seen Zee for a long time, a very long time… but he hadn't changed, he had kept his Zee Smith appearance; he looked the same, completely the same… except for his black clothes and the terrible sadness in his sharp masculine features, in his navy blue eyes, even in the way his black forelock hung forlornly over his eyebrows…

Daisy was right. I was afraid. I had been hiding from him for all this time, because…

The storm I was afraid of began to surge in my veins, leaving me motionless, breathless, speechless…

Dr. Thomas' voice woke me up.

He spoke quietly to Zee, but I am sure he meant for me to overhear. "This is Judith Thomas, also a granddaughter of mine, and Daisy's cousin. Not long ago, she went through a very rough ordeal, and she's been very quiet since then. Please don't be surprised if she doesn't speak, we are just so glad that she could be here today."

What?!

I couldn't believe it!

Dr. Thomas was really a part of Daisy's plan to reunite me with Zee! And he knew I would be shocked to see Zee and he was giving me a chance to pull myself together, by inventing this story of my 'rough ordeal'.

But I had no time to debate in my mind the reason for Dr. Thomas' story. Zee turned to look at me and…

The moment his navy blue and terribly sad eyes met mine… he, as always when he was introduced to someone, being the gentleman he was, he extended his hand for a handshake… and… and I had to… reach out my hand too and take his…

The familiar, long lost, but not forgotten sensation of his firm and warm, completely human hand burned me to ashes. I was afraid I held his hand longer than was usual, but I was fighting the almost irresistible urge to never let go of him again...

Did he notice it?

Why, while we still touched hands, had the look of his deep blue eyes changed, why had it become so penetrating, so searching?

Did his sensors define the touch of my hand as familiar?

Did he recognize me?

to be continued…

A/N Dear readers, please keep sending me your comments! Please don't think I already have enough, your reviews are my inspiration for writing. I had never received so many reviews for a chapter as for the first chapter of this story. I'm so thankful and so inspired to keep writing for you! I'll post a new Zee/Ro story for Valentine Day and I'll post Chapter Three of this story as soon as it's possible. Please review!


	3. Chapter 3

Disclaimer: I do not own 'The Zeta Project'. I do not own any of its characters. It's just a fanfiic.

A/N As English isn't my native language, I want to thank **Aldebaran8423** for her editing help on this chapter.

The Thomas family are my OCs.

You can find more about my theory for Zee's material covering in Chapter 3 of book 1 "The Nettle's Shirt" of my Zee/Ro trilogy "You Need Me".

Thank you so much for all the reviews! I wanted to post this chapter much earlier, I didn't expect I wouldn't be able to update for so long, I'm so sorry for the long delay, but real life was very difficult for me lately.

Chapter 3

by Iglika

**Ro's point of view**

I still was unable to let go of Zee's hand and he still was looking so searchingly in my eyes, when Daisy's parents and the family dog entered the living room and distracted Zee's attention from me.

Daisy's mother and father, brown haired like all the rest of the family, warmly welcomed him and he turned to them to shake their hands.

The old German shepherd approached Zee with the slow walk of a wise man, taking his time to size up this new person.

Zee smiled, bending a little, and gave the dog the back of his hand to smell.

The dog touched Zee's hand with his wet nose and visibly intrigued, examined it for a long time, before lifting his gaze up to Zee.

"You are surprised that I look like a human, but smell like some sort of 'tin man', aren't you?" Zee said with amusement and the dog wagged its tail at the soft sound of his voice.

'Tin man'? Was this a hint, addressed to me? But Zee didn't pay attention to me anymore; he knelt beside the dog and slowly, but with confident gestures, petted it.

"Cesar likes you, Zeta" Dr. Thomas noticed with a big smile. "Animals always know when someone loves them."

Zee looked at Dr. Thomas and said smiling too, "At least my material covering tells him there are a lot of pets in my home."

Zee had pets? I… I had no idea…

For a moment I was thankful that Daisy gave me the holographic bracelet, saving me from looking as stupid and astonished as I really was right now…

With the unvarnished impatience so typical of kids, Daisy's brothers ran to Zee, listing aloud at the top of their lungs all of their requests.

Zee stood upright and fully absorbed what they were saying--he gave them his entire attention.

First the dog, now the kids… it seemed Zee had completely forgotten about me…

The two boys both obviously had been eagerly awaiting this meeting with Zee. They quickly became rivals and began to fight about whose request Zee would do first.

Zee tried to kindly beg them not to quarrel, but they seemed so engrossed in their argument that they didn't hear him at all.

He exchanged an understanding smile with Dr. Thomas and said calmly, but with a stern and at the same time sad note in his voice, which made the boys become quiet, "I hate when people are fighting over me."

Why did he say that? In all the years we had spent together, while we were running from the NSA, there was only one time when people had fought over him and that was when I tried to disable Bucky's remote control and save Zee by taking control of him with the second remote. Was it one more hint to me that he knew who I was?

The two boys had silenced, looking at him, not completely sure they understood what he actually meant. But they had become quiet one way or another and Zee smiled a little bit mysteriously.

"I have a solution."

Totally intrigued, the kids kept looking up at Zee. He smiled broadly this time, content that he managed to make them stop fighting, and explained, "If the older of you insists his request must be first, than the younger will be sad. And if I accept the younger one's request, the older one will be sad. So give me all of your requests, please, and I'll mix them and put them in a random order. That way no one will be offended. Agreed?"

The brothers enthusiastically nodded still without taking their eyes off Zee.

His eyes flickered with yellow-green sparks, a visible sign that he was accessing his memory capacity.

Why did he do this? To impress the boys, their parents, Daisy and her 'cousin', as probably Dr. Thomas already knew many things about Zee, or to hint to me again?

I managed to keep silent, but the kids had no reason to hide their feelings and all their faces radiated was admiration.

Zee didn't hesitate to smile again for them; he opened the palm of his right hand, projecting a blue hologram of a page and read the random order of their requests.

"Did I miss something?" he asked and when the boys, totally speechless, eagerly nodded that the list was complete, he added, "Then the show can begin!"

I hadn't had too many chances to see Zee in the routine of a normal home. I could count on the fingers of one hand the times when we had visited someone's home when we were on the run. We hadn't spent too long at the Morgan's home or at Buss, Meg and Plug's houses and I couldn't count those events at all.

Zee fit perfectly well in the home atmosphere here. The entire time he talked to the boys he looked more like a Thomas family relative, rather than just a family friend, someone who knew how to relate to kids and most of all – he not only looked like their real big brother, cousin or uncle, it was clear how much Daisy's brothers liked him.

I had to confess I was, for the second time this evening, thankful for the holographic bracelet Daisy gave me. I didn't have to hide the thirsty way I was looking at him. I drank each line of his face, each note of his velvet voice… He wasn't persecuted anymore and a new, almost unknown calmness was making his features even more charming...

I even became angry that he had to change his appearance in order to fulfill Daisy's brothers' requests, because I missed his handsome face among all the holograms of superheroes…

But while I was watching how he was changing, something new and at the same time something too familiar came over me…

And it was the feeling of our old life together. The trust, the tensions which made us rely on each other completely; the feeling that he was the one I could trust with my life, a feeling without doubts, the feeling that we were one, the feeling that he protected me, that amazing feeling of unity…

We were closer than friends, closer than family. We were like….two halves of one person…

The feeling that I didn't care if he were a synthoid or not…

I missed his warm kindness, the way he was ready to give everything, to give himself for others' benefit…

Maybe somewhere, someone had his qualities, but I had to be honest – I had never met another person like him – so good hearted, so understanding, so sincere, so kind… and so strong, so protective…

But he wasn't paying any attention to me and that was natural, I was just some unknown girl he had seen for the first time a few minutes ago.

He was great at playing, pretending, performing. He had been always great at it, but I knew him so well, I could see how he enjoyed doing this because it wasn't just an imitation. It was something he was doing to make Daisy's brothers happy and Zee loved to see that kids were happy. Like the little girl he had saved years ago at the science exhibit…he not only risked his life to save Cora Kay, he had been so gentle with her when he lifted her in his arms and he had been the same with every child we had met during our travels.

But now… I wasn't a part of what he was doing. I missed his quick glances, his hope to find approval in my eyes. He didn't meet my eyes to show me he was proud that I was proud of him. I missed that invisible connection between us, even when we couldn't talk, even when we were standing apart from each other, as it was now. He didn't look for my support.

He had gotten used to coping by himself. He didn't need me anymore.

Or was I wrong…

When Zee had played all the superheroes Daisy's brothers wanted to see, they then excitedly began begging him to reveal to them his real form…his metal, synthoid form.

I had never seen him as confused and insecure as he became now. But why? No matter how much he had wanted to become more human, he was aware of all the advantages his titanium body and computer systems had given him, and at times he had even been proud of what he was.

But not now.

Was it because he had really changed since I disappeared from his life or was it because he had been wounded by my hesitation, my inability to choose to stay with him forever?

The kids' eyes were full of much more admiration than before Zee's performance and I knew there was no way for him to disappoint them. So ignoring his own unwillingness, he did what they wanted him to.

But he remained sad and embarrassed; it was so visible even on his metal face – the black rims around his bright white glowing eyes were turned down.

I felt an irresistible wish to drop down my hologram and run to him and hug him, or at least encouragingly and proudly pat his shoulders, as I had done long ago in the no-techs camp when the leader's daughter had discovered Zee in his robotic form…

I didn't do it.

I had no strength.

I remained silent and motionless…

Luckily Dr. Thomas had noticed Zee's reluctance and his attempts to divert Daisy's bothers interest away from his synthoid form and all the devices he had, and he came to Zee's aid.

"Boys! Don't torment our special guest! Zeta was kind enough to do all of your requests. Don't make him regret he agreed to cancel all of his engagements and answer my plea to spend his whole evening with you."

The boys were too young to consider that they should say they were sorry, but they were obedient enough to instantly stop asking Zee to show them all of his synthoid abilities.

He immediately restored his usual appearance. Now his human face was able to show how thankful he was because of Dr. Thomas' intervention, but at the same time – how concerned he was not to disappoint Daisy's brothers and he said, "If your parents and grandfather agree, you can all come to my home. Then we will have enough time and I'll show you how my laser weapons work and how I can extend my arms and fly from one roof or tree to some other."

The kids' eyes brightened up again, and they looked with hope toward their parents and Dr. Thomas, and receiving their positive smiles, the boys smiled too.

And then, suddenly, Zee turned to me and said, "I'll be glad to do something for you too. Who is your favorite character? I can play anyone, as you saw."

What was this? His usual politeness? Trying to help 'Daisy's cousin' and distract her from her dark thoughts?

Or a try at flirting?

Flirting? Zee?!

Why not? I had left him, he was alone, he felt so bad to be alone, it was so visible, then why not try to search for a kindred soul?

I didn't find strength to answer him. And for the third time this evening I was thankful for the holographic bracelet. 'Daisy's cousin' had a problem and could not answer, right, so I almost frantically shook my head.

"It's okay. I understand. I won't insist," Zee said softly, still looking in my eyes with the same searching gaze as when we touched hands, a half an hour ago.

"Dinner's ready," Daisy's mother invited us.

It was like someone had hit Zee, he winced as if with real pain and said quickly, "Thank you so much for your invitation, for the great time I spent with you but I have to go…"

"No, no, Zeta, please stay!" Dr. Thomas approached him, placing one hand on Zee's shoulder in a fatherly manner and his other hand at Zee's elbow. "It's an honor for us to have you at our celebration."

"I'm grateful, Dr. Thomas, and I appreciate it, really, but you don't need an onlooker at your table. I'd better go."

"Please, Zeta, don't talk like that!" Dr. Thomas still kept his hands on Zee's shoulder and elbow, politely, but insistently stopping him from taking even a step.

"But it's true, Dr. Thomas. I can pretend I can eat, but now it's useless as you all know I don't," Zee answered quietly, but with such a sad tone, as if he was trying to hide tears, as if… somehow it was as if… there were no other people in the living room, but just Dr. Thomas and Zee, as if they were father and son, as if Zee had no strength to keep pretending that all this wasn't too painful for him...

"You are great company!" Dr. Thomas didn't give up. "Please, Zeta, stay with us! See the children; they want you to be here the whole evening!"

Zee looked at the boys and I knew it was enough to make him stay. He couldn't hurt any child, much less these two boys here, who had become his friends already.

"Okay, I'll stay," he smiled with a sigh. "But please allow me to take a walk while you eat your dinner."

"That sounds like a good solution." Dr. Thomas smiled too. "But in order to be sure that you will come back here after your walk, I will give you Cesar. Deal?"

Zee nodded, smiling, he took the dog's leash, which Dr. Thomas gave him, then put it on Cesar's collar and made his way to the door.

"I'll come with you!" I heard myself shouting after him.

to be continued…

A/N Dear readers, please keep sending me your comments! Please don't think I already have enough, your reviews are my inspiration for writing. I'm so thankful for all your feedback and so inspired to keep writing for you! No matter when you will read this chapter please review!


	4. Chapter 4

Disclaimer: I do not own 'The Zeta Project'. I do not own any of its characters. It's just a fanfiic.

A/N I'm so sorry for the long delay of this chapter, but a precious person - my beloved Grandmother, passed away after being ill for a very long time and after suffering of a very tormenting disease. She was the one who encouraged me the most for my writing, so along with the sorrow for her loss, I decided not to disappoint you and keep writing in her memory and for you, my readers.

As English isn't my native language, I want to thank Aldebaran8423 for her editing help on this chapter.

Thank you for making possible for me to post this chapter exactly today, on my Birthday!

The Thomas family are my OCs.

You can find more about my theory for Zee's material covering in Chapter 3 of book 1 "The Nettle's Shirt" of my Zee/Ro trilogy "You Need Me".

A Guest for Christmas

by Iglika

Chapter 4

**Ro's point of view**

At the sound of my voice Zee immediately turned to look at me over his shoulder and stopped at the threshold of the door. If I had defined his gaze before as searching, now it was more than that – it was like his navy blue eyes were boring into me with an indescribable surprise, an inquisitiveness and interest so unhidden and strong that I began to doubt if the voice-emitter in the bracelet had really changed my voice. But it was working perfectly, I had clearly heard a girl's voice, which said my words, but it wasn't my voice.

Well, for a person, who was going through 'a very rough ordeal', as 'Daisy's cousin' was, my behavior would seem strange, to say at least, so Zee's reaction was probably quite normal and explicable, but the sting of jealousy stabbed me to the heart again. Now I didn't regret at all my decision to go with him. Let's see, Mr. Zee Smith, why you are more than happy to have Judith Thomas keep you company on your walk! I'm pretty sure it's not because you wouldn't be able to find your way back to the house without her help. Or did you forget the dog could lead you back?

No one said a word after my exclamation, even Zee. I knew all of them, the Thomases and Zee were glad I made that choice, although their reasons were different. My reason was different too. And I was really curious to see whose reason was the correct one… The Thomases couldn't be right about my feelings toward Zee. Only one person knew me better than I knew myself, and that was Zee…or had been Zee. Who knew what he thought now? I wanted to find out, and to do that, I needed to know how he would act toward Judith, alone.

Being familiar with holograms and knowing I could wear clothes over a hologram without any problem, I took my jacket; I put it on and zipped it up, approaching Zee, who was still standing motionless at the threshold, still looking at me in amazement. I looked up at him, impatiently and questioningly, and I lifted my holographic eyebrows. I was about to say 'Shall we?', but it was a phrase I used a lot when we were on the run, so I thought it better to let my expression speak for me.

He finally broke eye contact and with a polite gesture invited me to step ahead of him.

When the front door closed behind us, as we crossed the snowy yard heading toward the gate, Zee matched his pace with mine. He turned toward me and looked at me with the sweetest, cutest, mildest smile, the same one he used to give only to me during our years on the run together, always in that first moment when, after he had been in his synthoid form, he would resume his breathtaking, black-haired, blue-eyed Zee appearance... In those moments he _always_ had _that _look in his eyes – warm and loving; he had _that_ charming expression on his face, and _that_ disarming, adorable smile. It had been mine and mine only! No one else had seen him that way, no one, ever! And now… now he looked at Judith Thomas that way, he was giving his kindest smile to some unknown girl who he had seen for the first time a few minutes ago!

How dare he! How dare he replace me so easily, forget me so quickly!

Had he forgotten all his explanations and excuses why he had kissed Tiffy the first moment he saw her, while he was still on the doorstep of my foster father's house? He couldn't use his Adam Heat appearance as a pretext for this situation. It hadn't been the reason then and it couldn't be now.

I didn't think synthoids were built to be womanizers. Come and meet IU6! Also known as Zeta. Or Zee Smith. He should have kept that Adam Heat appearance, it suited him better!

Oh, you will see, Mister Don Juan! You will see! You have no idea just how vindictive I can be!

Apparently my furious expression showed him clearly enough that if I could kill him with just my look, I would do it, right here and right now.

I didn't change the enraged look of Judith's holographic face even when Zee's smile faded away to be replaced by sad, almost hopeless expression I knew so well and had seen too often.

It didn't snow anymore. The deserted street was covered with untouched whiteness. There were no people on the sidewalks, no cars. Only the two of us and the dog.

Without saying a word to each other, we just stopped and remained that way – unmovable, on the empty, snowy street, in front of the Thomas's gate.

Zee turned and looked at me again, with an even sadder expression, and with slightly lifted eyebrows above his gloomy eyes, he asked quietly, with a somehow tired tone, as if he was able to be tired for real, "Are you a synthoid too?"

_What?!_ Only one person had ever asked me that, in the no-techs camp when the leader's daughter had discovered Zee's robotic form. Why had Zee said that now? Was it done intentionally?

"What made you think that?" I asked instead of answering.

He still kept looking at me, his eyes still so sad, but except for this, his expression had become almost unreadable.

"It's a simple equation. First – you skipped the holiday dinner – something very important in the human world. And secondly - it was your choice to come with me on this walk, but you clearly don't enjoy my company. Therefore, you must have accompanied me because you had been told to, or you were ordered to. So I concluded you might be a synthoid. And obviously it's one of your first missions as you're still not very good in controlling your hologram and coordinating the emotions you have to project."

My hologram?!

Cold shivers ran down my spine.

He said--he _knew_--I wore a hologram! Did he recognize me? But if he did, then why didn't he say it openly?

No, no, he was just disappointed in 'Judith Thomas's' indifference to his charm, that was all.

I kept Judith's calm and cold expression, but underneath it I took a deep breath before saying with her icy tone, "No, I'm not a synthoid. Does that disappoint you?"

"No." Zee's voice returned to resigned softness, so familiar to me from those times in our past, when he would fall into pessimism, doubting that he would ever be able to win his freedom. "Why should it?"

I shrugged my shoulders.

"You might feel alone among human people, and maybe someone of your own kind…"

"I have never met anyone like me among the synthoids," he interrupted me with a quiet, flat and very firm tone. "I'm the only one with conscience, at least for now. That makes me different, sets me apart. But I'm not looking for a soul mate from among the other robots anyway. I do prefer humans' company. As far as they can bear to accept me."

Yes, I know. I know you prefer human's company, lover boy. And you hoped Judith Thomas would respond to you. Too bad. She's not interested.

But he used the word 'robots' in a very odd way, as if to emphasize that he's different not as compared to other synthoids, but as compared to humans. And what was that "As far as they can _bear_ to accept me"? A hint that he thought I had left him because I had found myself unable to live with a synthoid for the rest of my life? But I had never said anything like that! Well, I really had disappeared from his life, but I just needed time to think, to make a decision… I told him I needed time, I…

"Miss Thomas?" His soft voice forced me out of my thoughts. "I promised Dr. Thomas to walk Cesar. He's an old dog and it's not good for him to stay still for so long in such cold weather. I really have to walk him. But you don't have to come with me if you don't want to."

"No, no, I'll come with you!" I said too fast and eagerly, losing for a moment all the iciness in 'Judith's' voice.

"You're sure?"

"Of course I am!" This time I managed to bring back my sharp tone.

But instead of being hurt again because of my roughness, Zee looked really amused and he didn't hide it – his lips curved in a faint smile.

"Okay then. There is a park nearby. It will be good for Cesar if we walk him there."

Well, maybe it was time for 'Judith' to lull his vigilance and see why, actually, he was so happy to have her company on this walk. I looked at him much more warmly than before and said with a flirting smile, "You talk about him using his name, not just 'the dog'. Not too many people do that. You treat even a dog with respect and that's amazing."

Zee smiled politely… or… was it because he was flattered?

"Thank you, Miss Thomas. Every dog has its own personality. Dogs are our best friends. They love you no matter what. They don't care if someone is beautiful or ugly, young or old, rich or poor, human or robot. They deserve our respect."

He used the word 'robot' again! Obviously my abandonment had hurt him more deeply than I expected, since he needed to assure himself almost constantly that people could accept him like a human being no matter that he was not.

But before I managed to answer him, he looked at me again with that strange, searching, questioning gaze, as he had several times this evening, and said, "I wonder – aren't you afraid to walk in such a deserted place with an artificial man who's an ex-assassin?"

Wow! 'Artificial man'! 'Ex-assassin'! Zee definitely had an odd idea of flirting technique, but that was him – always full of surprises.

I gave him another meaningful look and alluring smile.

"I know you are a changed man. You aren't a killer anymore, and haven't been for a very long time. I'm not afraid of you. I trust you."

Surprised, he looked at me with his thick eyebrows lifted and almost hidden beneath his black forelock. But he said nothing. Instead he bent down a little toward Cesar and petting the dog's head, said, "Do you trust human kind, buddy?" And upon seeing the dog's friendly look and slow wagging tail, Zee added, "Of course you do. You're a dog. I wish I could trust this beautiful young lady the way you do."

Beautiful young lady? Oh, come on Zee, cut it out!

"Why wouldn't you trust me?" I snapped. "From what I know about you, you're pretty naïve. Or should I say _excessively _naïve."

He gave me one of his inquisitive, long, silent looks, and didn't answer me right away. Then he said to Cesar, "We'd better head for the park, old buddy."

And while we were already walking, he started speaking which wasn't exactly an answer, "I adopted one of my dogs from a shelter. A small black dog, a mixed breed. The first time I tried to play with him, I took a stick and expected he would fetch it for me run to bring it back and give it to me, but when I raised my arm to toss it for him, the poor thing tucked in his tail, looked at me with guilt and fear, and ran quickly to the gate. Obviously he had been mistreated and he thought I wanted to chase him away or beat him with the stick. I did my best to prove to him he's wrong, and he came back, he kept showing me love and trust, but he couldn't forget whatever had happened to him in the past. But he chose to forgive me and kept trusting me. That's amazing. We can learn so much from animals' purity. Even from their naiveté."

In my turn I kept silent and then I changed the topic, returning to Judith's tempting.

"You asked me if I wanted to see some TV character or hero. It was pointless because I already saw my hero. It's you."

"Me?" He gave me a slight, bitter, crooked smile.

"Yes, you are! You have a lot of fans, didn't you know that? And to be honest, your accomplice/best friend Rosalie Rowen was like a thorn in your fans' side."

"That's all in the past."

"You are free now?" I kept looking at him with all the hope I was able to pretend to have.

"Not really." He didn't take his eyes off the empty, white street in front of us.

"I'm afraid I don't understand." I kept it up, insistent. "You're single, aren't you?"

"Yes, I am," he said in a flat voice; still without even glancing at me. "But I'm not looking."

"Oh… it's a shame for such a handsome man like you to be alone!"

"I'm not exactly a man. I'm an artificial man. I'm a robot."

"It seems you love to use this word 'robot' all too often. But you are not just a robot, you're a synthoid!"

"_I am_ a robot" Zee emphasized with a quiet, but almost iron tone, still looking straight ahead. "That's the reason why Ro didn't dare to stay with me. To help a robot find his freedom is one thing but to live with a robot for the rest of her life is another thing altogether."

"Why don't you ignore her? Just forget her and move on."

"I can't forget."

"Then - delete your memories of her!"

"I can't. She's a part of my life. I became a real person because of her. I realized who I am because of her. If I delete her, I'll lose the most important part of myself and I'd probably lose myself, too."

"You hope she can't forget you either, don't you? You hope you are a part of her life the way she is a part of yours. You hope you are her identity the way she is for you, right?

Zee kept looking straight ahead and didn't pause before answering, but actually… what he said wasn't an answer at all…

"I don't understand why you skipped dinner."

"A walk on a snowy evening like this is just so beautiful. Look at the houses! They all are so pretty! And they all are decorated differently! All those lights and colors, all those shining stars, snowflakes, reindeers, trees! All that glistering snow…" I shrugged my shoulders in a carefree way, smiling, although he still didn't look at me. "I love snow. I just love winter; it's my favorite season…"

I silenced because he had stopped walking, he turned toward me, and went still; his navy blue eyes had become dark grey, almost black, and so desperate, nearly on the verge of tears...

"You don't love snow, Ro; you don't love the cold at all. You don't love winter; it's not your favorite season, none of my attempts to make Christmas a happy holiday for you could make you forget the time you had spent in orphanages and foster homes. Please stop pretending. Please drop that hologram, Ro, please!"

to be continued…

A/N Thank you for reading! Please review, no matter when you will read this chapter, please review!


	5. Chapter 5

Disclaimer: I do not own 'The Zeta Project'. I do not own any of its characters. It's just a fanfic.

A/N As English isn't my native language, I want to thank Aldebaran8423 for her editing help on this chapter.

The Thomas family are my OCs.

You can find more about my theory for Zee's material covering in Chapter 3 of book 1 "The Nettle's Shirt" of my Zee/Ro trilogy "You Need Me".

A Guest for Christmas

by Igika

Chapter 5

**Ro's point of view**

My heart sank, leaving me breathless, then it began to pound wildly in my throat, in my temples… making me unable to separate my feelings or… completely realize them… I was startled, scared and perplexed all at the same time and also… maybe it was ridiculous, but I was curious too-- how had he been able to recognize me and how long had he known… and… the most surprising feeling of all -- I was impatient to be myself again…

But did I have to?

Or else what? Keep pretending?

How could I, as he already knew the truth.

And why should I keep pretending…

"Ro, please!" His voice forced me from my thoughts, although I was still looking him in the eyes… but nevertheless, I kept silent and still, so he begged me again, "Please, Ro, let me see your face, I missed you so badly!"

I was still looking at him, unable to make myself say or do something… anything…

I was just standing there, in the cold, on the white, snowy street, looking at him…

And he was still looking at me, with the saddest expression I had ever seen on his face, with the most pleading navy blue eyes… Zee, who was powerful enough to take anything he could ever want by force; he was begging me instead. Because…

It was him. That's how he was.

It was just him.

Zee.

The most tender soul in the strongest metal body. The greatest warmth in the coldest titanium shell. That contradiction in him had always made me do everything to help him, to comfort him, to love him… y-y-yes, I mean… to assure him he was worthy to have a normal life and that I was always ready to do everything it took to see him happy…

Now was no different.

Did he knew how disarmingly charming he was when he was begging for something?

And his look… still sad and so gentle… he didn't conceal how much he hoped to see me, how much he wanted to see me…

I gave up all my attempts to hide from him and test him. The old feeling that I needed him, that I needed our reunion, poured over me like a wild waterfall and I wasn't able to resist.

So I pushed the button on my bracelet to end the hologram projection. The slight hissing sound as the hologram disappeared assured me I was myself again.

"Hello, Ro!" Zee smiled.

He didn't dare to touch me, but I was could sense how much he wanted to…

But no, he didn't dare. His gaze only caressed my face with such warmth as he had never allowed to show before.

"Hello, Zee," I smiled in return and it wasn't just some gesture of politeness. I was happy to be myself again, with him… I really was…

"It's so good to see you, Ro. No matter how perfect my records and files are, they are fake, just images of you and they can't compare with your presence. You have become even more beautiful than the last time I saw you."

It wasn't easy for someone to make me feel flustered and confused, but Zee always managed to do it every time he gave me a compliment.

I couldn't stop an embarrassed smile, avoiding his eyes for a moment and when I looked back at him, I changed the topic.

"When did you realize it was me?"

"Immediately," he said simply, looking embarrassed in his turn, and he shrugged his shoulders, as though unsure if I would like his answer.

"Oh…" I avoided his eyes again, torn between disappointment that all my efforts at playacting had been in vain, and some irresistible joy that he knew me so well. "Do you have some upgrade that includes holoviewers?" I asked, trying to give his perspicacity some technical explanation.

"No!" He almost laughed and the way he was sincerely amused at my attempt to belittle his insight confused me again.

But I managed to overcome it in time, and cocking my head to one side, I gave him a playful smile.

"Then what's the secret, detective?"

He smiled back, seeming flattered by my sincere interest, but instead of answering, he looked at the dog and then back at me.

"He still needs his walk, we better keep going."

"Oh, of course!" I said quickly, with a lively smile, and before considering whether I should do it or not, I took his arm, pressing myself to him. "Br-r-r, it's so cold! You were right, I _hate _the cold!"

I'm sure I only moved close to him to steal a little warmth from his material covering, which radiated a constant temperature, like a human body, or maybe it was to show him I was sorry I had been so rough with him while I pretended to be Judith, that I hoped he would excuse my attitude… or… maybe not only those things… I… I just… I didn't know… my thoughts, my feelings were too mixed… I just wanted to be sure he was here, with me, and I wouldn't lose him. Not this time. Not ever again.

We hadn't walked with our arms linked very often before, and the moment my hand slipped around his elbow, I sensed how he became still. After this first second of surprise though, he accepted the way I nestled against him, lifting his shoulders and seeming almost proud that I allowed myself to need him. And in the next instant I already received a benefit of walking with him in the cold – he carefully had raised his body temperature and I felt his familiar warmth…

I pressed my head against his shoulder, causing a new wave of perplexity over him… and over me… but… without drawing back, and pretending that I didn't notice how confused we both were, I asked, "So? How did you recognize the truth about me?"

"Well…" he silenced and I lifted my face to look at him.

From his height of six feet, he was looking down at me too, with a half-smile, so sweet… I knew this expression! He always looked that cutely proud when he had managed to impress me with any of his abilities. And he was right to enjoy some self-importance – it was never easy for him to impress me with his synthoid skills.

"The first thing I detected when I entered Thomases' living room was your specific scent of roses, Ro. Your hair, your skin – they have the fragrance of your favorite rose perfume, your favorite rose shampoo and soap. All our years together, you never mentioned how much you love the scent of roses, but it was always your constant choice for anything you bought. So - as I didn't see you anywhere around, I thought perhaps you had visited the Thomases before, or you had just left the room," Zee paused intentionally, taking full advantage of my curiosity, pretending there was nothing special in all this. The snow had stopped coming down and he looked up for a brief while into the dark, starless winter sky before continuing. "But as I approached 'Judith' the perfume increased. I couldn't think of any logical reason why you would wear a hologram and I thought perhaps I was wrong, that it was just coincidence. But then we touched hands and the shape of 'Judith's' hand matched yours, it was your hand, I was sure of it! But still, I had to be one hundred percent certain, so I analyzed the fingerprints of that girl, left on the material covering of my hand, and they were yours." Zee paused again; he turned to look at me, while we walked, and smiled his irresistible smile. "But even if I couldn't check your fingerprints, I would have known it was you – the way you moved, the way you walked, the way you talked, each person has a specific way of moving, has specific gestures, has favorite words and favorite grammatical constructions…"

"Why did you wait so long to tell me you knew who I was?" I interrupted him, somehow scared to discover what else he might know about me...

"Well, the whole situation puzzled me so much. I wasn't sure I should tell you at all. I didn't know if you'd be glad to find out I knew… The thought crossed my mind briefly that you might be hiding from someone, maybe even the Thomas family. I thought you might be in danger. But that was just for a moment. It was impossible for me to even suppose that someone of Dr. Thomas' family could harm you."

"Why not?"

"I know Dr. Thomas very well, we have been working together lately. I know what he thinks about you and me, I mean… what he thinks about our separation and… I put that together with his insistence that I come here today. It was easy for me to suppose he and his family might want to reunite us, rather than put you in some kind of danger."

Oh, great! Zee had been faster than me in figuring out the Thomases true intentions!

We were in the park already and after carefully looking around for any threat – of course not the NSA anymore, but some gang or criminals, or something, Zee was always suspicious and in his 'guardian' mode when he was with me, I guess old habits die hard, he added, "As Dr. Thomas didn't tell me you would be here, I presumed you weren't aware I'd be here either. I was certain you still didn't want to see me, and I doubted you would change your mind even with the urging of the Thomas family, so in this case, your wearing of a hologram made some sense. When you joined me for the walk though, I decided you did it in order to talk to me in private, but then you said nothing and you kept pretending. That was why I wasn't sure you would want to know that I knew. But I couldn't bear this play anymore, Ro, I really couldn't."

He lowered his voice, with his last words, being unable to hide the old pain he felt the whole time we were apart from each other. I knew he was sincere and his sadness pierced me through the heart… maybe I should tell him that I was sorry I hurt him so much, maybe I should say I didn't want us to separate, ever again, but… I returned to the previous topic.

"I had no idea Daisy was Dr. Thomas' granddaughter and her insistence to join her here made me really suspicious of her motive."

"I'm sorry you were scared, Ro. But the Thomases are really amazing people."

"Are you sure about that, Zee? Sometimes you could be really wrong about people."

He smiled. "Not this time."

"I wish I could be as sure as you are."

"You can – Dr. Thomas is Dr. Selig's brother."

"He's…what?!"

Zee turned toward me and nodded with a new smile.

"Dr. Thomas is Dr. Selig's brother" he repeated.

"But… their names…" I stammered.

"Dr. Selig was always involved in secret projects and had to change his name to keep his relatives safe from danger."

"Oh… now it makes sense why it was so hard for you to find records for him," and as Zee nodded again, I added, "Does Dr. Thomas know anything more about his brother?"

"Not yet. But he hopes, just as we do, that Dr. Selig is alive."

This time I nodded and knowing how delicate and painful subject of Dr. Selig's disappearance and possible death was for Zee, I changed the subject yet again.

"So what's Zee Smith's occupation, since the last time I saw him?"

"See for yourself," Zee smiled somehow sadly, and as we kept walking with my hand around his left elbow, he projected, above the palm of his right hand, an image of a laboratory with many scientists and synthoids, like the lab Zee and I had seen at Knossos. Then there was an image of Dr. Thomas, who obviously was talking to Zee, _"The dream for creating soldier-robots is very old and it is impossible to stop governments from pursuing this objective. It's true that robots don't need food or shelter; a robot doesn't feel cold, heat, pain or tiredness. It's true a robot won't stop in order to help his wounded fellow robot, but that's the dangerous part. Weapons without consciences are the most dangerous thing ever invented by human beings. Your creator's life-work was to show this to the world. You had to be the example of how things should be, you were the one who had to make a difference and you did it! Eli told you he had great plans for you, Zeta, and this is what he meant. A knife can be used to kill…but it can also be used to save lives in many different ways. It depends on the situation and on the conscience of the one who's using it. To play Santa for kids is great, but you have the potential to do so much more than this. You are worthy, not just to continue your creator's life-work, to keep the world safe from synthoid killing machines and to serve humanity as you choose, whether as a soldier with a conscience or by any other of a number of ways your unique abilities could help mankind. You are worthy to live like one of us, choosing your own path, proving that synthoids with consciences have the right to live like ordinary people. You proved it with your actions, with your feelings and with every second of your life. You deserve it. I was truly amazed when I reviewed the files and information on you and Rosalie, that covered the time when you were running. And later, I saw how you cared for one another when you were fighting for your freedom. I was sure then, and I still am, that you had found an extraordinary person to share your whole life with, the right person for you. I was so surprised and disappointed when the two of you separated."_

"_I didn't want to, but… it was she who insisted…" Zee's voice said._

"_I know. But she might be suffering too, just like you are."_

"_I don't want to cause her any suffering, at any cost, ever. That was the reason why I didn't stop her when she said she wanted us to separate. I want her to be happy. Even if that means letting her go."_

"_But what if she only needed some time, to rethink your relationship?"_

"_I hoped that that was the reason she left. But she didn't call me. She avoided talking to me even on the phone._ _So many evenings I was sitting in my living room, thinking about us, remembering the time we were together, how we ran… I played my records and memories of her. I tried to delete them, but I couldn't. I hoped she'd knock on my door, and come to me and tell me she wanted to be with me forever, but I doubted she really would, and as time passed I was convinced she wouldn't."_

"_Don't let your hope die, Zeta! Rosalie Rowen is one of my best students. Yes, she chose to study artificial intelligence. That has to tell you something."_

"_Even so, Dr. Thomas. There's no chance for me to be with Ro again. She was the one who knew me the best, she was aware of everything she could have or miss out on, being with me, and she chose not to live with me anymore. I just have to accept it."_

"No, Zee! It's not true!" My voice rose with the depth of my feeling.

He clenched his fist, making the blue hologram image disappear and he stopped, looking at me… and I was looking at him too…

The long months of frustration and indecision rose in me like a storm made of a million emotions. Everything swirled around me and through me, a tangled mess of people's opinions, thoughts, beliefs. What my life and decisions were, what they should be. Terrible insults caused by misunderstandings and the worse insults of those who understood exactly what they were implying. The rare thrill of finding support in some people I met. And strongest of all, the most confusing, cutting the most deeply, my feelings toward Zee, the icy loneliness without him, and the sense of home I felt when I was with him. Everything now seemed hopeless and excitingly limitless at the same time, completely unreal while being the most certain thing I had ever felt…

I couldn't think, couldn't consider anymore what anybody else thought or said, what the world might believe. It was my life, and Zee's, my feelings, my responsibility to determine what was right or wrong for me… I'd been afraid, my whole life, to commit to anything, to stay in one place. I had always been running, even before I met Zee. I wasn't afraid any more. And I didn't need to run, ever again.

I was looking up at Zee, I came closer to him, my hands moved to his chest first, then slid up to his shoulders, then stole around his neck and… making him bend a little down toward me, I kissed him. I felt the familiar sensation of his warm and soft lips, but now it wasn't an accidental random touch on my skin, I felt his lips on mine… and after the first tentative touch, he answered my kiss, more and more passionately, until his arms folded about me firmly, but tenderly and we lost ourselves in a wild whirlpool of thirsty, ardent, irresistible kisses…

But just as suddenly as he had allowed his fervor to take possession of him, he stopped kissing me, his arms let go of me and he even put his hands on my shoulders to move me away from him.

I didn't let go of him though. I cupped his face in my hands, gently caressing his cheeks.

"What?" I whispered.

He put his hands on mine and carefully, but insistently removed them from his face.

"Don't fool yourself, Ro. You were right to stay away from me."

"No, I wasn't! I was wrong! What's happening now - this is the right thing and it should have happened a long time ago!"

"No, Ro. It's a mistake." He tried to let go of my hands completely, but I didn't let him, I grabbed hold of his hands as strongly as I could.

He had never looked as tall and inaccessible as now. I knew how strong he was and it was not a surprise, his strength wasn't human, but he had been always so careful, he had been, most of the times, inclined to acquiesce and let me lead him, accepting my opinion since he trusted me more than he trusted his own understanding of the human world.

But not now. More than ever his physical strength was inflexible and it was a sign of how categorical his decision was. And more than ever it was a sign that he was a person with his own feelings, thoughts and conscience.

I had always been glad to see him have his own point of view.

But not now.

Cold shivers ran down my spine. I knew how stubborn he was when it was his firm belief that he was right. I wouldn't be able to change his mind any more then I'd be able to prevail over him by physical force.

Yes, it was true that it was me who left him, I was the one who first did that crazy thing and it couldn't be undone….but since I was the one who had done it, I had thought then that I could always change it, that I held our future in my hands. But now it was Zee who held our future. It depended on his decision and as I watched him stand away from me, I felt a freezing fear clench my heart. If I wasn't able to convince him he was wrong, I would lose him and this time it would be forever.

"Please don't push me away, Zee!"

"Look at me, Ro! I'm artificial. My human appearance is a lie. You are holding me as tight as you can and you already feel pain, but I don't. I don't even feel cold and you're trembling with it. I'm different. And I always will be…"

"Don't try to fool me, Zee, it's useless! I know you better than anyone! You don't feel pain now because I can't squeeze you hard enough to reach the level when you can feel pain, but your material covering has sensations! You enjoyed our kisses, I know it, I felt it!"

"Even so, Ro, I'm different and I'll always be! I thought my freedom would be everything I'd need. But since I met you, I realized I need more, I want more, but this is ridiculous, I…"

"Please, stop!" I interrupted him and caressed his face although he didn't move, pretending he didn't sense my touch. "Sometimes too much thinking is not good, Zee! After too much thinking I ended up running from you. And what happened? You were hurt, alone and sad. And it was the same for me! Why? I still don't understand so many things, just like you and I doubt it's possible for us to ever understand everything. Please don't make the same mistake I did! You saw me – I tried everything I could do to run away from you, even wearing this stupid hologram. But I was jealous, I wasn't myself not only because I pretended to be someone else. I'm not myself without you. I didn't replace you with anyone and you didn't replace me either. Please, Zee! When times were tough and we had to help each other survive, day and night, we didn't pay attention to whether we were human or synthoid and how different that makes us. We were happy together and we loved each other more than we loved our own lives. What's the difference now? You are my better half, Zee, you are all that I'm not, without you I'm not whole. I love you, Zee…"

"Hush…" his warm lips stopped my words with a soft kiss and he gently hid me in his arms. "I know it's hard for you to voice it. It's hard for me too. But I love you too," he whispered against my hair…

And suddenly… he drew back! Again! Oh, no! Did all our romantic moments have to be ruined? What now?

"We lost Cesar!" Zee said, looking around with a sincerely scared expression.

If he wasn't able to see the dog, that meant it really was gone. Whoops! We had completely forgotten the poor thing. Probably the German shepherd had taken his own walk since the first time Zee had hugged me. At least we were lucky because of the snow, Cesar had left tracks on the white cover, and we just had to follow them. Just a little more walking in the cold…but we'd be walking together.

But before we had taken even a step, Zee's cell phone rang.

"Dr. Thomas?" Zee said with the guiltiest expression I had ever seen on his face. "I'm so sorry we… Oh, Cesar is already home! I'm… I'm so happy he's not lost… I'm so sorry… Yes, yes, Dr. Thomas, thank you so much for your understanding… thank you so much!"

Zee put the cell phone back, stowing it in one of the compartments of his chest beneath his hologram and material covering, and smiling at me, he offered me his arm again.

"Dr. Thomas and his family don't mind if we don't come back to them right away. Shall we?" And he smiled again, at using one of my favorite expressions.

I smiled at him too and accepted his offer by slipping my hand around his elbow again. I didn't ask him where we would go. Zee knew how to take care of me and he had always led me to good places before. I'd gotten used to completely relying on him.

I pressed my face against his shoulder, which didn't cause us confusion this time, but just new smiles and his warm hand covered my cold one with a tender caress.

I settled my cheek against his shoulder in response and asked, "So – what else did you notice about me when I was wearing the hologram?"

The end

A/N Thank you for reading! Thank you for following this story no matter that Christmas is half a year behind us now. I apologize again for the long time it took me to finish it.

I'll try to update my other two unfinished Zee/Ro stories - "Labyrinth" and "The Reason" as soon as I can. Your reviews would definnitely make a difference and would give me motivation to keep writing, so please, please review, no mater when you will read this chapter, please review!


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